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Horse collapsed in stable

5 replies

soda1234 · 02/06/2011 00:50

On Friday 13th, I had a call from our lovely YO to say that our horse (6YO Mare) had gone down in her stable. She got back up straight away but looked a bit "spaced out" for a while.

The vet came out within 2 hours, took bloods and gave her a check over. No colic. Bloods showed elevated "stress" hormones.
Horse left in field for 2 weeks, not ridden at all. Repeat blood test still showing raised stress hormones. Vet says this indicates pain.

Tomorrow she is going to have a head X-ray and a "scope" at the vet's practice ,which will mean a 20 min drive.

We are new to horse ownership,
this horse belongs to my 14 yo daughter, we bought her last December and apart from the usual settling in stuff she has been great.

I think my questions are:

Has anyone else experienced this?

If tomorrows tests are clear, would you want further tests?

Would you let your 14 yo daughter ride the horse without a clear outcome?

The ideal outcome tomorrow, is that they will spot something that is easily fixed.
The worst outcome is that they find something awful and she has to be pts.

The other outcome is that they still don't know and want to do more tests.

What would you do if it was the last scenario? She is insured, so that isn't an issue.

At the moment, we have a horse my daughter can't ride, or lunge even.
Would you regard this as a "one off" and ignore it if it were your horse?

All thoughts and advice appreciated.

Thank you

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olderyetwider · 02/06/2011 09:59

I wouldn't let anyone ride the horse until the vet gives a view as to what might be wrong, for the horse and for your daughter's safety, until you've got some idea of what the cause is. If the horse is in pain it could affect his temperament when ridden. I think you've got to see what tomorrow brings then take it from there.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you. Keep us posted, and say if there's any way we can help

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dappleton · 02/06/2011 09:59

Hi Soda,
This must be a very difficult situation for you but I think your vet sounds very thorough so if I was you i'd go with his advice today. If he is happy with the outcome of the tests and can find a cause then at least you'll know what you are dealing with and he can advise on treatment/management and whether your daughter can ride her horse. If he can't find anything wrong but doesn't feel it needs further investigation then go back to riding as normal - perhaps with a little caution the first couple of days and put it down to a one-off. If you need to have further tests done i'm sure the vet will explain why and if your insurance covers it you may as well have everything investigated for peace of mind, ask the vet on whether he feels the horse is ridable while this is being done.
Good luck today and keep us updated!

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emlu67 · 02/06/2011 14:30

I agree - wait for the test results and vet's advice before you let your DD ride. It would be terrible if riding made anything worse.

My DD was on a riding school pony once who collapsed with her on top and unfortunately died a couple of days later (colic). DD (6) was inconsolable as she thought it was her fault and months later she still gets upset about it. I would not want this to happen to anyone else's DCs.

Good luck and let us know how you get on, I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you.

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frostyfingers · 02/06/2011 16:33

I expect it's been suggested already but can you get a chiropractor/osteopath to look at her. It's possible it could be a muscular/skeletal problem. Best of luck, I hope you get a clear answer.

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soda1234 · 02/06/2011 16:47

Thanks for all the replies
X-rays and scope showed nothing unusual, she also had an ECG (normal)
Vet's advice is light work (lungeing) for 4 to 5 weeks, and keeping a close eye on her, he will then see her again
So, we (and they) are still baffled!
Good news is that nothing awful showed up

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